Disasters and accidents

• Heavy rains cause floods and landslides in Gapyeong, South Korea, killing at least 14 people and forcing the evacuation of more than 1,000. The rains have also battered China, Thailand, India and Myanmar. Neighboring North Korea warns of possible floods, while the New Zealand government reports the deaths of three of its citizens in the South Korean floods. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 2020 Thai protests
  • Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha asks people "not to create chaos at this time" as protests grow amid demands to reform the constitution, dissolution of parliament, new elections and a reform of the monarchy. (Reuters)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• War in Afghanistan
  • August 2020 Afghanistan attacks
    • Jalalabad prison attack
      • The military retake a prison in Jalalabad, Nangarhar, that came under attack yesterday by the ISIL, resulting in a mass jailbreak and shootout between Afghan forces and jihadists that ended today. At least 29 people are killed and 50 injured, among them civilians, prisoners, guards, and Afghan security forces. (AP)
• Israeli–Syrian ceasefire line incidents during the Syrian Civil War, Israeli involvement in the Syrian Civil War
  • Israeli Air Force helicopters strike Syrian military observation posts, intelligence collection systems, anti-aircraft batteries and command-and-control bases in Quneitra Governorate, in response to yesterday's incident along the Purple Line border fence in the Golan Heights, in which four militants were killed after attempting to plant an IED where Israeli soldiers patrol. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• 2020 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Isaias
    • Isaias regains hurricane strength with maximum winds of 75 mph (120 km/h) after leaving 2-4 inches of precipitation and causing minor power outages along the Florida coast. The storm is moving north-northeast at 16 mph (26 km/h), and is expected to make landfall in eastern North Carolina early Tuesday and then continue along the Mid-Atlantic coast heading toward the northeastern states. The storm surge will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded with rising waters before moving inland. (NPR) (National Hurricane Center)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    • Victorian premier Daniel Andrews orders the temporary closure of many businesses and retail stores in Melbourne under stage four lockdown restrictions for six weeks to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Victoria. Only essential services such as supermarkets, food stores, liquor shops, petrol stations, pharmacies, convenience stores, and other essentials can remain open. (9 News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Iran
    • BBC News reports that the number of deaths and confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Iran are about three times higher than what was reported by the government, according to a data leak. (BBC) (Business Insider)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
    • Catalonia exceeds 100,000 COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic. (La Vanguardia)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
    • Brazil's Chief of Staff of the Presidency Walter Souza Braga Netto tests positive for COVID-19. (Reuters)

International relations

• North Korea and weapons of mass destruction
  • A UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea report concedes that North Korea has "probably developed miniaturized nuclear devices to fit into the warheads of its ballistic missiles". (Reuters)

Law and crime

• Internet censorship in Thailand
  • Thailand's digital minister threatens action against Facebook for not complying with the government request of restricting content that is illegal in the country, including insults of King Vajiralongkorn. Facebook responded by disabling English-to-Thai automatic translations. (Reuters)
• Monarchy of Spain, Corruption in Spain
  • The Spanish Royal Household announces that Emeritus King Juan Carlos I has informed King Felipe VI that he is leaving the country motivated by "the public repercussion that certain past events are generating". His finances are being judicially investigated by a Swiss judge and the Spanish Prosecutor's Office for alleged financial dealings from Haramain high-speed railway construction and his accounts in tax havens. (El Mundo) (The Washington Post) (BBC)
• Authorities announce the arrest of a 48-year-old man two days earlier in San Antonio, Texas, for threatening to commit a mass shooting at Fort Hood in retaliation for the killing of Vanessa Guillén there in April. He is being charged with making terroristic threats. (San Antonio Express-News)

Politics and elections

• 2020 United States presidential election
  • Postal voting in the United States
    • U.S. President Donald Trump vows to sue Nevada over legislation signed by Governor Steve Sisolak that, amid the coronavirus pandemic, requires election officials to send all active, registered voters a mail-in ballot ahead of the November election. This also would apply to any others that happen in the wake of a statewide emergency or disaster directive. (Reuters) (AP via ABC News)
    • President Donald Trump says he has the right to issue an executive order on mail-in voting but hasn’t gotten to it yet. (Reuters)
• Lebanese Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti resigns over the government's slow pace at reforms, warning the country is at risk of becoming a failed state. Diplomatic affairs advisor Charbel Wehbe takes his place. (Al Jazeera)

Science and technology

• Two anonymous sources confirm to Reuters that the classified United Kingdom–United States trade documents leaked ahead of the UK parliamentary election last year was caused by Russians hacking the email account of former International Trade Secretary Liam Fox. (Reuters)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Boko Haram insurgency
  • Nguetchewe attack
    • Suspected Boko Haram militants attack a refugee camp with a grenade in Far North, Cameroon, killing 15 people and wounding six others. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• Syrian civil war
  • The Syrian government condemns a deal signed between Delta Crescent Energy, a U.S. oil firm and Kurdish rebels of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to manage the Kurdish-controlled northeastern oil fields. The statement says the deal is "stealing" Syrian crude. On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. is supportive of the deal. (Reuters) (Oil Price)

Disasters and accidents

• 2020 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Isaias
    • A tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (100 km/h), Isaias is less than a mile off the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Florida's Atlantic Coast, moving north-northwest at about 8 mph (13 km/h). Tropical storm warnings have been issued as far north as Surf City, North Carolina. (Orlando Sentinel) (National Hurricane Center)
    • Earlier this week, one man was killed in the Dominican Republic, when a power line fell on his horse, killing both the rider and the animal, and a woman was killed in Puerto Rican flooding while crossing a bridge. The storm has resulted in uprooted trees, destroyed crops and homes, and widespread flooding and small landslides. (The Weather Channel)
• Apple Fire
  • Nearly 8,000 people are evacuated from the town of Cherry Valley, California, United States, due to a growing wildfire. The Apple Fire has burned over 20,500 acres and is five percent contained. (USA Today)
• The United States Marine Corps, Navy, and Coast Guard halt a massive search and rescue operation for seven Marines and Navy sailors who went missing on Thursday off the coast of San Clemente Island in California. All the missing are now presumed dead. (USA Today)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in India
      • India's Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah, tests positive for COVID-19 and is admitted to hospital. (Al Arabiya)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
      • President Rodrigo Duterte reimposes modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ), one of the strictest lockdown measures on Metro Manila and the surrounding provinces of the Philippine capital for 15 days. (Rappler)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand, COVID-19 pandemic in Hawaii
      • A military spokesman says that plans to undertake joint military exercises with the U.S. military have been suspended after nine Thai soldiers who returned from Hawaii tested positive for COVID-19. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns
    • Victorian premier Daniel Andrews declares a state of disaster across the state and imposed stage 4 lockdown in Metropolitan Melbourne. The new measures include nighttime curfew, which will be implemented across Melbourne from 20:00 to 05:00 (AEST). The restrictions comes into effect at 18:00 (6 pm) and last until September 13. (BBC)
    • The rest of Victoria places under stage three restrictions and will take effect on August 6. (ABC News Australia)
  • COVID-19 pandemic on cruise ships
    • At least 40 passengers and crew from the MS Roald Amundsen cruise ship test positive for COVID-19 after two recent Arctic voyages. Health authorities are trying to trace other passengers that may be infected. (Reuters)

International relations

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international relations, Iran–United Arab Emirates relations
  • In rare talks, Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif held a video call to discuss various regional issues, including combating COVID-19 in their respective countries. (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

• Mexican Drug War
  • Guanajuato state officials announce that Mexican security forces captured former Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel leader José Antonio Yépez Ortiz alongside five other people. (Al Jazeera)

Politics and elections

• George Floyd protests
  • George Floyd protests in Portland, Oregon
    • Hundreds of people gather and protest in Portland, Oregon, marking the 66th night of protests in the city. (CNN)
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accuses the media of instigating anti-corruption protests against him and downplaying incidents of violence by the protesters. Earlier in the day, the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court ordered his son Yair to take down a Tweet doxing the leaders of the protests. (Times of Israel) (Al Jazeera)

Science and technology

• Crew Dragon Endeavour makes its first splashdown after successfully completing the Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission. (Space.com)

Business and economy

• China–United States trade war
  • Chinese IT company ByteDance agrees to divest from the U.S. branch of TikTok, in light of U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to ban the app within the country. If the deal is approved, Microsoft will handle the app's personal data rather than ByteDance, averting a main source of contention with U.S. officials. (Reuters)

Disasters and accidents

• 2020 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Isaias
    • Category One Isaias makes landfall on northern Andros Island heading toward Grand Bahama. The storm, strength slightly reduced to 75 mph (120 KM.H) with heavy rains and coastal flooding, will move over the Straits of Florida tonight and approach the southeast coast of Florida early Sunday. North Carolina orders the evacuation of Ocracoke Island. (USA Today) (National Hurricane Center)
• 2020 Punjab alcohol poisoning
  • Officials say at least 86 people have died in recent days due to consuming toxic illegally-made alcohol in Punjab, India. Police are carrying out raids in the state, confiscating supplies of the suspected alcohol and have made 25 arrests. (BBC)
• Flash floods in Nangarhar, Afghanistan, kill 16 people, injure four others and damage several houses. (TOLONews)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
      • Okinawa declares a state of emergency for two weeks until August 15 and asks people to stay home after the popular tourist destination sees an "explosive spread" of COVID-19 cases. (The Straits Times)
      • Tokyo reports 472 new cases, its highest toll to date for the city. (The Japan Times)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Kuwait
      • The Kuwaiti Directorate General of Civil Aviation bans flights to 31 countries as Kuwait International Airport resumes operations at reduced capacity. (Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in India
      • India reports a record more than 57,000 new cases, as well as 764 deaths in the last 24 hours. (NDTV)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
      • The Philippines report 4,963 new cases, its highest toll to date. The cases rise to 98,232 and the deaths jump by 17 to reach a total of 2,039. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    • Queensland closes its border with Greater Sydney at 1 am (AEST) after its premier Annastacia Palaszczuk declared all of Sydney a COVID-19 hotspot on July 29.(9 News)
    • Australian COVID-19 death toll reaches 200. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa
    • South Africa surpasses 500,000 cases after adding a total of 10,107 new cases Saturday night. (AP)

Law and crime

• COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea, Religion in South Korea, Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on religion
  • Lee Man-hee, a Shincheonji Church of Jesus pastor, is arrested for allegedly hiding contact information from virus trackers and embezzling 5.6 billion won. (The Guardian)
• 12 people, including Booker Prize-nominated author Tsitsi Dangarembga, are released from detention by Zimbabwean authorities for participating in anti-government protests in the capital of Harare yesterday. They are to return for trials on September 18. (Al Jazeera)
• The Iranian Ministry of Intelligence announces the detainment of Jamshid Sharmahd, the leader of the pro-Pahlavi group Kingdom Assembly of Iran, for coordinating the 2008 attack on worshippers in Shiraz. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 2020 Khabarovsk Krai protests
  • Protests in the Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk, Russia continue for the fourth consecutive weekend. Protesters demand the release of regional governor Sergei Furgal, who was arrested on charges of murder, which he denies. Thousands of people reportedly join the protest. (Reuters)
• Protests over responses to the COVID-19 pandemic
  • A demonstration against coronavirus restrictions attended by thousands of people in Berlin, Germany, is terminated by police over "non-respect of hygiene rules". Police say they launched legal action against the organisers. (Al Jazeera)

Science and technology

• The Barakah nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates becomes operational following delays since 2017. It is the first commercial nuclear power station in the Arab world. (BBC)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• 2020 Chaman border clash
  • Twenty-two people are killed in clashes between Afghan civilians and Pakistani military forces. Fifteen people died and 80 others injured in Kandahar after Pakistani soldiers attacked civilian areas, while seven people were killed and 31 others injured in Pakistan when a crowd trying to enter Afghanistan became unruly and attacked military installations. The Afghan government warns of action if Pakistan "continues its rocket attacks", while the Pakistani military says it opened fire in self-defense, returning fire to the Afghan side. (Reuters)

Business and economy

• Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
    • The Spanish economy suffers a historically large fall in the second quarter of 18.5% of GDP and enters in recession, making Spain the European country most economically devastated by the pandemic. (El Mundo)
  • Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • House Majority leader Steny Hoyer announces that the House will cancel recess in efforts to negotiate a COVID-19 relief bill. (CBS News)
• James Murdoch, the younger son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, resigns from the board of News Corporation citing "disagreements over editorial content ... (and) some strategic decisions." News Corp owns media in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. (BBC)

Disasters and accidents

• 2020 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Isaias heads toward the Bahamas and the U.S. as a category 1 hurricane, after causing floods and landslides in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. A hurricane warning is issued for Florida's Atlantic Coast. (DW) (The Weather Channel)
• 2020 Kenai Peninsula mid-air collision
  • Seven people are killed in a mid-air collision near Soldotna, Alaska, United States. Among those killed was Alaska State Representative Gary Knopp. (The New York Times) (KTUU-TV)
• A minibus accident in Crimea (a disputed territory of Ukraine and Russia) leaves at least nine people dead and another nine wounded. (Reuters)
• An Alfa Pendular high-speed train derails in Coimbra, Portugal, killing two people and injuring at least 30 others. (BBC)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam
      • Vietnam reports a record 82 new COVID-19 cases in a day. (Vietnamese Heath Ministry)
      • Vietnam reports its first two deaths from COVID-19. The two men, "Patient 428" and "Patient 437" died of "complications from background diseases and COVID-19". (VnExpress)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
      • President Rodrigo Duterte downgrades the lockdown restrictions on Cebu City to the level of "general community quarantine", while extending the same level of restriction on Metro Manila until mid-August. (Al Jazeera)
      • The Philippines report a record high of 4,063 new cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. (Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
      • Tokyo registers another record of new COVID-19 cases in a single day since the pandemic began, with 463 new cases. Governor Yuriko Koike says the city may need to declare its own state of emergency if the virus continues to spread. (The Japan Times)
      • Japan reports another record of more than 1,500 cases in a single day. (Kyodo News)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in India
      • India reports a record 55,079 new COVID-19 cases, as well as 779 deaths. In the last 24 hours, 37,223 COVID-19 patients were cured and discharged, which also is the highest number of recoveries since the pandemic began. (Livemint)
      • India surpasses Italy in COVID-19 deaths, becoming the fifth-highest. (India.com)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China
      • China reports 127 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. From that, 123 of them were locally transmitted which includes 112 in Xinjiang and 11 in Liaoning. It is the highest number of cases reported since March 5. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in North America
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the Bahamas, COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
      • The Bahamas announces that travelers from the United States will be required to either present a negative COVID-19 test or quarantine for 14 days. (USA Today)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico
      • The number of COVID-19 deaths in Mexico reaches 46,688, surpassing the United Kingdom. The death toll in the country is the third-highest in the world. (CNA) (Reuters)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
      • The United States government is expected to pay $2.1 billion to Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline to try to develop and deliver 100 million doses of their potential COVID-19 vaccine. (CNBC)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
    • COVID-19 pandemic in England
      • UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson postpones lockdown easing in England, for at least two weeks, after an increase in coronavirus cases. (BBC)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Fiji
    • Fiji reports its first death from COVID-19. Health minister Ifereimi Waqainabete reported it as a 66-year-old man who had been repatriated from India where he had been receiving treatment. The man apparently contracted it while in India. (RNZ)
  • The World Health Organization reports a record increase in global COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, with the total rising by more than 292,000. (Reuters)

Law and crime

• 2020 Twitter bitcoin scam
  • A 17-year-old boy in Tampa, Florida, U.S., is arrested and charged for his role in the Twitter bitcoin hack earlier this month. Two others, a man in Orlando, Florida and a man in the United Kingdom, were also charged. (Yahoo! Finance)
• Nine people are killed and five others injured during a shooting amid a dispute over ownership of a forest in Upper Dir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (Dawn)
• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit overturns the death sentence of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on five counts, ruling the judge erred several times in their initial decision. A new sentencing trial will take place. (CNN)

Politics and elections

• Afghan peace process
  • The government and the Taliban begin a three-day truce to start intra-Afghan talks. Early today, President Ashraf Ghani ordered the release of 500 Taliban prisoners to "show goodwill" to start the talks. (DW)
• Postponement of the 2020 Hong Kong legislative election
  • Citing the threat of COVID-19, Chief Executive Carrie Lam invokes emergency powers to postpone Hong Kong's election until September 5, 2021. (WNBC-TV)
• The UK House of Lords adds 36 new peers to their ranks. New members include Boris Johnson's brother Jo Johnson, former cricket captain Sir Ian Botham, Evening Standard owner Evgeny Lebedev, and former chancellors Kenneth Clarke and Philip Hammond. Lord Speaker Norman Fowler criticizes these peerages for making the House too large. (BBC)

Science and technology

• Twitter suspensions
  • White supremacist David Duke is permanently suspended from Twitter for repeatedly violating its rules on hate speech. (The Washington Post)
• China–United States trade war
  • U.S. President Donald Trump announces his intentions to ban TikTok from operating in the U.S.. (The Hill)

Sports

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports
  • Major League Baseball (MLB) reschedules today's series opener between the Milwaukee Brewers and host St. Louis Cardinals to be part of a Sunday doubleheader because two St. Louis players received positive results from COVID-19 tests administered following the conclusion of the Cards-Minneapolis Twins series. The Twins played the Cleveland Indians last night. This is the 15th MLB game postponed by positive COVID-19 results just eight days into the 2020 season. (CBS Sports) (Reuters)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• War in Afghanistan
  • July 2020 Afghanistan attacks
    • A car bombing in Puli Alam, Logar Province, kills at least 17 people and wounds 30 others. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says the group has "nothing to do" with the bombing. (BBC)
  • Nine Taliban militants, including two leaders, are killed by security forces during clashes in Ghazni Province. (TOLOnews)
• Syrian civil war
  • A car bombing attack leaves 5 people dead and another 12 injured in Tel Halef village, Syria. (Reuters)
• Iraqi insurgency (2017–present)
  • A bomb kill a soldier in Diyala Governorate, Iraq. (National Iraqi News Agency)
• A man shoots dead two policemen in Charsadda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. (Dawn)

Business and economy

• Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
  • The United States economy suffers its worst quarter since World War II, with the GDP shrinking by an annualized rate of 32.9% in the April–June period. (The Guardian)

Disasters and accidents

• 2020 Atlantic hurricane season
  • Hurricane Isaias
    • Hurricane Isaias is expected to head towards Florida, prompting the state to close their COVID-19 test sites. The hurricane has made landfall in Puerto Rico, causing landslides, flooding, and power outages. (CBS News) (CNN)
• Kōriyama explosion
  • An explosion destroys a restaurant in Kōriyama, Japan, killing one person and injuring another 18. A gas leak is suspected to be the cause of the accident. (The Mainichi Shimbun)
• United States Marine Corps
  • One Marine is killed and one Sailor and seven additional Marines went missing when their Amphibious Assault Vehicle sinks near San Clemente Island off the coast of Southern California. They were from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, San Diego County. This is the third major AAV accident involving Camp Pendleton Marines since 2011. (Reuters)(AP)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
      • Tokyo reports 367 new COVID-19 cases. It is the highest jump of new cases since the pandemic began. (Asahi Shimbun)
      • Japan reports a single day record high of 1,274 new COVID-19 cases. (The Japan Times)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong
      • Hong Kong reports its largest single day record of 149 new cases of COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours as well as one death. From that new cases, 145 of them are locally transmitted. (Reuters) (South China Morning Post)
      • Hong Kong government has reversed a day-old total ban on restaurants serving dine-in customers that was introduced to control the spread of COVID-19, and publishes new guidelines that allow restaurants could operate dine-in facilities but only during the day, at 50% capacity, and with no more than two people at a table. (AFP via The Guardian)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in India
      • India reports its largest single day record of 52,123 new cases of COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. (Anadolu Agency)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China
      • Mainland China reports 105 new COVID-19 cases and 96 of them are in Xinjiang. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Europe
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine
      • Ukraine reports a record high of 1,197 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. (The Jerusalem Post)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Romania
      • Romania reports a record high of 1,356 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. (Romania Insider)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Poland
      • Poland reports a record high of 615 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, and authorities warn of a reinstatement of quarantine measures for travellers from other countries. (Swissinfo) (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Wisconsin
      • Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers issues a mask mandate, which is expected to go into effect on August 1. (ABC News)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
    • Victoria records 723 new cases, as well as 13 deaths. It is the highest jump of number of cases and deadliest day since the start of the pandemic in Australia. (The Age)
    • New South Wales reports its first COVID-19 cases from prison inmates as the state reports 18 new cases. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
    • First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro tests positive for COVID-19. (NPR)
  • The number of worldwide recoveries of COVID-19 surpasses ten million. (Johns Hopkins University)

International relations

• Malaysia–Philippines relations, North Borneo dispute
  • Malaysian Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein summons the Philippine ambassador after Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. tweeted Monday to the U.S. embassy in Manila that Sabah does not belong to Malaysia. Locsin summons the Malaysian ambassador in tit-for-tat. (Al Jazeera)

Law and crime

• Agbudu shooting
  • A mass shooting in Kogi State, Nigeria leaves 14 people dead and another six injured. Thirteen of the fatalities were member of the same family. Police said that a long-standing row over land rights is suspected to be the motive behind the attack. (The Guardian Nigeria)
• Shooting of Michael Brown
  • St. Louis County prosecutor Wesley Bell announces that Darren Wilson, the Ferguson police officer that shot and killed Michael Brown, will not be charged. (The New York Times)
• Twelve people are dead and nine others injured during a mass shooting in the Democratic Republic of Congo, carried out by a drunk soldier. (Reuters)
• Former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed, a 29-year-old student, is sentenced for nine years in a Russian penal colony for assaulting two police officers while drunk last year in Moscow. Reed's father told reporters after the verdict he is planning to appeal directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Al Jazeera)
• A court in Uganda sentences a poacher who killed a rare gorilla named Rafiki to 11 years in prison. Rafiki, a 25-year-old silverback who was the head of a gorilla group in the southwestern Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, was killed with a spear in early June. (Al Jazeera)

Politics and elections

• 2020 Hong Kong legislative election
  • At least 12 Hong Kong pro-democracy nominees for the September election are disqualified, among them, Dennis Kwok, Joshua Wong, Tiffany Yuen, and three others from the Civic Party. Other nominations were still being reviewed, the government said in a statement expressing support for the disqualifications. (AP)
• Presidency of Donald Trump
  • U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested November's presidential election could be postponed, saying increased postal voting could lead to fraud and inaccurate results. Under the U.S. Constitution, Trump does not have the authority to postpone the election himself; a delay would have to be approved by both houses of Congress. (BBC)

Science and technology

• Exploration of Mars
  • The Mars 2020 mission carrying the Perseverance rover and Mars helicopter Ingenuity successfully launches atop an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral SLC-41 (Space.com)

Sports

• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports
  • 2019–20 NBA season
    • The National Basketball Association season resumes at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex after a 141-day suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The season resumes with the New Orleans Pelicans taking on the Utah Jazz. (People) (CBS Sports)
• A Saudi-backed consortium ends its bid to purchase Premier League team Newcastle United. The takeover bid was stalled due to concerns about Saudi Arabia's human rights record and the Kingdom's promotion of the pirate TV station beoutQ. (Al Jazeera)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Yemeni Civil War, Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen; Yemeni peace process
  • The separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) announces it is giving up its aspiration of self-rule in Yemen to implement a stalled peace deal brokered by Saudi Arabia. A spokesman for the group says they have "achieved their goal". The STC believes in establishing an independent state in southern Yemen similar to the one that existed between 1967 and 1990. (AP)
• Syrian civil war
  • The U.S. imposes further sanctions on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his 19-year-old son Hafez, and warns that it will also sanction anyone who engages with the government in Damascus. Kelly Craft, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, says the sanctions are not intended to harm civilians and that they do not target humanitarian aid. (Reuters)

Arts and culture

• Archeologists at Stonehenge pinpoint the origin of the structure's large Sarsen stones to a site north near Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. (BBC)

Business and economy

• Cuba loosens some regulations on state-run companies and farmers, and allows for U.S. dollars to be used in internal trade, as the country seeks to revitalize its economy in the midst of both the COVID-19 pandemic in the region and the economic decline of its trading partner Venezuela. (Reuters)
• The Central Bank of Brazil announces that it will start producing 200 reais bills starting in August. (G1)
• Zimbabwe's government signs a $3.5 billion agreement with the Commercial Farmers' Union to compensate white farmers who were forcibly evicted from their land during a controversial land redistribution program in the 2000s under former President Robert Mugabe. (CNN)

Disasters and accidents

• A train derails following a bridge collapse on Tempe Town Lake in Tempe, Arizona, sparking a fire. (NBC News)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Asia
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
      • Iwate reports its first cases of COVID-19 infections, with two people testing positive. (Mainichi Shimbun)
      • Japan's daily new COVID-19 cases tops 1,000 for the first time. (NHK World)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam; COVID-19 pandemic in Equatorial Guinea
      • Vietnam repatriates 219 of its citizen from Equatorial Guinea with at least 120 of them reported to be COVID-19 infectees. (VnExpress)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China
      • China reports 101 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. This is the highest number of new cases since mid-April, and 89 of them are from Xinjiang. (Reuters)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in South America
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil
      • The number of deaths in Brazil reaches past 90,000. (New Straits Times)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Peru
      • The number of cases in Peru reaches past 400,000. (The Asian Age)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Maryland
      • Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announces that the state will tighten their mask mandate to prevent a spike in cases. (The Hill)
    • COVID-19 pandemic in Texas
      • The number of cases in Texas surges past 400,000 as 313 COVID-related deaths are recorded in a day. (Financial Times)
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe
    • Incumbent Minister of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement Perrance Shiri dies from COVID-19 at the age of 65. (Reuters)

International relations

• Fiji–United States relations
  • Fiji's opposition parties urge the government to reconsider its decision of closing Fiji's embassy in the United States, the European Union, and other countries, and blame Chinese influence in the Pacific. (RNZ)
• Belarus–Russia relations
  • Belarusian security forces arrest 32 members of the private military company Wagner Group at a sanitarium near Minsk in an overnight raid. All those detained are Russian nationals, according to authorities. President Alexander Lukashenko convenes an emergency meeting with his security council, and instructs the Chairman of the State Security Committee to ask Russia for an official explanation. (The Guardian)

Law and crime

• George Floyd protests
  • George Floyd protests in Minneapolis–Saint Paul
    • A masked, umbrella-wielding man accused of helping incite riots and looting in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd is identified. (ABC News)
  • George Floyd protests in Portland, Oregon
    • Oregon Governor Kate Brown announces that federal agents deployed to Portland, including all Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, will start withdrawing tomorrow, per her conversation with Vice President Mike Pence. (Business Insider)
  • George Floyd protests in Wisconsin
    • Two women, Kerida O’Reilly (33) and Samantha Hamer (26), are charged for attacking Wisconsin State Senator Tim Carpenter outside the Wisconsin State Capitol building in Madison. (The Hill)
• Censorship in Turkey
  • The Grand National Assembly of Turkey passes a new social media regulation bill that requires foreign sites to appoint Turkish-based representatives to help monitor content, and will punish companies that don't comply with fines and throttling bandwidth. (Reuters)
• Blasphemy in Pakistan
  • A man accused of blasphemy under a new controversial law is shot dead by a gunman in the courtroom while he was standing trial for allegedly insulting Islam. The victim was part of the Ahmadiyya faith, a minority Islamic sect that Pakistan declared non-Muslim in 1974 for regarding its founder as a prophet. The suspect was a former member. (DW)
• A man accused of attacking pro-democracy Hong Kong activist and convener of the Civil Human Rights Front Jimmy Sham says he was offered a HK$2 million bounty to "cripple" him in last year's attack. (South China Morning Post)
• Moroccan journalist and human rights activist Omar Radi is arrested and charged with rape and aiding foreign spies. The charges come after Amnesty International reported that the Moroccan government was using Israeli spyware to spy on dissidents like him. (Reuters)